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Tehran - Senior UN investigators opened a new round of
talks on Wednesday with Iranian officials in Tehran in the hopes of restarting
a probe into allegations that the Islamic Republic carried out atomic bomb
trigger tests and other suspected weapons-related studies.

The semi-official ISNA news agency reported that
negotiations started at the headquarters of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.

It gave no further details.

The UN meetings are considered an important test of
Iran's willingness to address Western concerns before the possible resumption
of wider dialogue with the US and other world powers.

Negotiations with the six nations - the US, Russia, China,
Britain, France and Germany - fell apart more than six months ago and Iran has
proposed getting them back on track, perhaps as soon as later this month.

The US and others hope the talks will result in an
agreement by the Islamic Republic to stop enriching uranium to a higher level
that could be turned relatively quickly into the warhead-grade material.

Iran denies such aspirations, insisting it is enriching
only to make reactor fuel and to make isotopes for medical purposes.

ISNA said EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton has
agreed restart the next round of world power talks with Iran on 28-29 January, but
no decision has yet been made on the venue.

The last round, held in Moscow in June, ended in
stalemate.

The official IRNA news agency, however, said the talks
may not resume until early February.

Before departing on Tuesday for Iran, UN team leader
Herman Nackaerts said the International Atomic Energy Agency hoped to
"finalise the structured approach" that would outline what the agency
can and cannot do in its investigation.

Allegations probed

The UN nuclear watchdog wants to revisit Parchin, a
military site southeast of Tehran, to probe allegations that Iran may have
tested components needed to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran has steadfastly
denied any such activity.

Iran says IAEA's suspicions are based on forged
intelligence provided by the CIA, the Israeli Mossad, Britain's MI-6 and other
intelligence agencies, and that Tehran has not been allowed to see the
materials to respond to them.

The IAEA also is trying to follow up other suspicions,
including whether Iran did computer modelling of nuclear warhead core.

The agency says it has intelligence information
indicating Iran carried out preparatory work for a nuclear weapons test, and
development of a nuclear payload for Iran's Shahab 3 intermediate range missile
- a weapon that can reach Israel

Iranians say they have a bitter memory of allowing IAEA
inspections and providing replies to a long list of queries over its nuclear
program in the past decade. Now, Tehran says such queries should not be
revived.

‘Alleged studies’

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast
said on Tuesday that Iran provided detailed explanations to IAEA questions on
six outstanding issues in the past but instead of giving Iran a clean bill of
health, the agency levelled new allegations on the basis of "alleged
studies" provided by Iran's enemies.

Iran uses that term to refer to allegations about Parchin
and other claims that it says the IAEA levels only to keep the issue alive.

Tehran has in the past allowed IAEA inspectors twice into
Parchin, but now it says any new agency investigation must be governed by an
agreement that lays out the scope of such a probe.

"Obligations of the other party must be clearly
specified. If a claim is to be raised on a spot in Iran every day and [the UN
agency] seeks to visit our military facilities under such a pretext... this
issue will be unending," Mehmanparast said on Tuesday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad acknowledged on Wednesday
that sanctions have slowed down Iran's growth and disrupted its foreign trade
and said the country must move away from a dependence on oil revenues to
overcome sanctions.

Addressing parliament, Ahmadinejad said "structural
changes" are needed in Iran's economy to overcome the sanctions.

Iran is under toughed Western oil and banking sanctions
over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The US and its allies fear Iran
may ultimately be able to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

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